Marxist viewpoints

Question 1

Outline the viewpoint of those from a traditional Marxist perspective.

Answer 1

crime is driven by social inequality

capitalist society is criminogenic:
-crime is an inbuilt part of society, a rational response to the inequality as a result of Capitalism
-relative poverty means some struggle to survive and are excluded from consumer society , this encourages crime as an outlet to express frustration at social exclusion
-Gordon (1971)- not surprising in these circumstances working class commit crime, surprising more is not committed

law reflects ruling class interests/ideology:
-laws are not an expression of value consensus (as suggested by Functionalists) , Chambliss (1975)- reflects values and beliefs of ruling class ideology
-Box (1983)- what is defined as a serious crime is ideologically constructed and often disadvantages working class , protecting middle class
-Snider (1991)- Capitalist states will only pass laws tp regulate private businesses when forced to do so
-laws that appear to benefit everyone have a manipulative function of providing a smokescreen, suggesting the law is impartial however often is still benefitting ruling class

selective law enforcement :
-Chambliss (1975) - one rule for rich , one for poor (crime control focusses on poor)
-biggest crimes are often committed by rich - Pearce (1976) ‘crimes of the powerful’, white collar and cooperate crime rarely prosecuted/found out
-selective law enforcement gives impression most crime is committed by disturbed working class, diverting working class’ attention away from their exploitation
-individuals (not the system of inequality) are blamed for crime

Question 2

Engels (1845) quote

Answer 2

‘The Condition of the Working Class in England’

“taking what he needs where he finds it”

“majority prefer to steal rather than starve to death”

Question 3

If you grew up in poverty , how less likely are you to receive 5 good GCSE grades?

Answer 3

42%

Question 4

what percentage of children in single parent families live in poverty?

Answer 4

nearly 50%

Question 5

Where does England rank in the developed world for literacy?

Answer 5

lowest

Question 6

Evaluate the traditional Marxist perspective.

Answer 6

+ useful explanation of link between crime and Capitalist society

• too deterministic , not everyone poor commits crime

-criminal justice system does sometimes act against the interests of Capitalist class- prosecutions for cooperate crime

-ignores intra-class crime (criminals and victims are both working class) - argued by left realists

-ignores relationships between crime and other inequalities such as gender and ethnicity

Question 7

outline the viewpoint of those from a neo-marxist perspective

Answer 7

nobody is forced into crime

working class crimes are a meaningful and symbolic acts to show resistance to ruling class oppression (e.g , Gilroy (1982) argues black crime is a form of resistance to police racism and harassment from the ruling class.

Taylor (1973) , a New Criminologist said to fully understand crime, must draw upon interactionist and marxist approach, developing a ‘fully social theory of deviance’. This focuses on immediate and wider origins and reactions to crime

Hall et al (1978)- study on black crime suggested that in 1970s, crime was used to assert dominance of ruling class hegemony when under political and economic threat. this directed attention away from structural issues onto crime, scapegoating young black people. to reassert hegemony, ruling class used media to create moral panic, justifying more aggressive policing. this has since become a way of preventing opposition of ruling class.

Question 8

evaluate the neo-marxist perspective

Answer 8

-ignores victims , romanticises crime as a political act

-over emphasise property crime , difficult to understand how murder/rape could be political

-some laws are in everyone’s interests

-feminists argue they’re malestream , assuming it’s okay to apply theories to women